


Come to Life

by ClothesBeam



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Daddy Kink, Dom/sub, Multi, Pet Play, Polyamory Negotiations, Prostitution, Rape Fantasy, men in lingerie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-05-15 06:51:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19290472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClothesBeam/pseuds/ClothesBeam
Summary: Gavin has a very specific fantasy he can’t stop thinking about, but he can’t find a human dom willing to fulfil it. So instead he orders a home visit from an Eden Club dom prototype, and is far from disappointed.After he starts hiring it regularly he finds out the RK800 line will soon be replaced by the model it was a prototype for. It begs him to buy it before the company sends it to be recycled, and Gavin begins to question everything he thought he knew about androids.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is tagged as non-con because it contains a scene that focuses on a character having a rape fantasy fulfilled. This scene is fully consensual within the bounds of the story but may still contain things that could act as triggers for folk wishing to avoid actual non-con.

Gavin shifted uncomfortably and looked over his shoulder again. As expected, there wasn’t anything behind him other than his empty studio apartment. He hovered his mouse over the payment button, but couldn’t quite make himself actually click on it.

What if the Eden Club got hacked tomorrow and his order became public? Or what if his order was processed by someone who knew him?

Gavin scrolled back up the order form, looking at the free entry space. He’d written several paragraphs in it since his desire wasn’t exactly typical. At least, it didn’t seem to be, since he hadn’t managed to find a human dom that would do it for him. Not that he’d looked that hard, since he was trying to do this on the down low.

Gavin erased the paragraphs of test and just put in the bare bones. The thing was still a prototype, but surely they wouldn’t be sending it to people’s houses if it couldn’t communicate boundaries and desires properly.

_Dom to be pet and fulfil rape fantasy._

Gavin sighed and rubbed his hands over his face again. That got to the crux of it, which was what they needed, but still stated too clearly for him to be comfortable. Gavin scrolled back to the top of the page, where he’d paused the product video for the RK800. The current shot was focused on its face. Although its expression was bland in this part, it still looked attractive enough. Imagining it with dog ears on its head made him feel embarrassed at himself again.

Gavin quickly scrolled back down the page, typed ‘dog’ in his sentence somewhere, and clicked the purchase button before he could actually talk himself out of it. Gavin swore at himself before getting up and grabbing his mug. He’d had to cover a few night shifts during the week, and was now trying to convince his body that it should be awake during the day. Having another coffee might keep him up for the rest of the day, but at this hour it’d probably keep him up until after midnight again.

He wandered downstairs, leaving his loft and moving to the kitchen. He dumped his cup in the sink and looked up at the clock. It was three in the afternoon and he still felt like garbage. He’d put the order in for tonight since he knew he’d definitely have it and tomorrow off after the hours he’d pulled earlier in the week. But part of him wasn’t really expecting the advertised two hour turnaround in order confirmations to be accurate, so if it did happen, it might be tomorrow during the day.

His phone buzzed only twenty minutes later. Gavin reached into the pocket of his dressing gown and checked the message.

_Your booking for an overnight hire has been confirmed. Your android will arrive by 6PM. If you have any questions or concerns, please reply to this message._

Gavin felt his heart beat a little faster. He looked at the mug he’d just cleaned as he bit into his lip. He might be needing the extra caffeine after all.

* * *

 

Gavin got a text informing him his hire had arrived at exactly 5:57pm. He rushed to the front door, which opened out into a small courtyard, which in turn was blocked from the street by a flimsy gate. Living on the ground floor wasn’t his favourite thing, but it was cheap.

Gavin hurriedly crossed the paving with bare feet and pulled the gate open. The android was dressed in a generic uniform that was similar enough to a large delivery company to go unnoticed. The ‘RK800’ written on its uniform and its non-standard face were the only major giveaways.

Gavin gestured for it to hurry up and come through the gate before one of his nosier neighbours caught sight of it. The android smiled and entered, following Gavin in through his front door as well.

The fact it was smart enough to not need to keep stopping and checking it was ok for it to enter gave him some confidence that this would all go smoothly. It earned itself a few more points when it stopped to take its shoes off before coming in much further. Gavin looked back at it again, and it spoke when it knew it had his attention.

“Good afternoon, Mr Reed,” it began in a polite tone. “I am the RK800 you ordered from the Eden Club. You can refer to me as ‘Connor’, if you prefer.” Gavin could almost see the quotation marks when it said its name.

“Uh, yeah, I’d guessed as much. You can just call me Gavin,” he said, and shuffled his feet awkwardly. Now that it was here, he didn’t know where to begin. But if it was being advertised as a dom, surely it’d be the one to figure that out.

“It’s always good to ensure we’re on the same page,” it replied lightly. “Speaking of which, I have analysed your request and believe it would be best if we sat down and spoke about it in more detail to ensure I am able to deliver exactly what you desire.”

Gavin nodded slightly as he felt his mouth go dry. This sounded promising, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

Gavin sat on one of the stools placed near his counter, and the android followed suit. “Ask your questions, then,” he said after a moment.

The android inclined its head. It put the satchel bag it was carrying on the bench and unzipped it. “Well, let us begin with the simplest part,” it said as it pulled out a plastic box and opened it up. Gavin peered inside it curiously, realising it held a pair of plug in dog ears and a tail that the android could insert and likely have some degree of control over. There was also a plain leather collar nestled along the bottom edge.

“You want me to act as the pet dog, yes? Are these props to your liking, or unnecessary?”

“Uh… They’re fine,” Gavin replied as he watched the android lift the ears to its head and nestle them somewhere among its hair. Only then did he notice the fur was the same colour as its hair. He wondered if it had all been made from the same materials too. “You don’t have to wear a collar if you’re not into that, though. It’s not important,” Gavin said automatically.

“I understand this is the first time you’ve hired the services of an Eden Club android, so allow me to remind you that I don’t have any preferences, and my only goal is to leave my client satisfied with the service. However, you have hired me for my more unique functions. If you don’t want to be making decisions during our interactions, I can make them for you. But first I must learn more about your preferences and expectations.”

“Ok, well, the collar thing doesn’t bother me either way. You decide.”

The android nodded, but left the box alone for now. Gavin couldn’t help but stare at the way its new ears twitched and turned slightly. He wondered if they were tracking noises, or just following a randomised program.

“All right then, moving onto the scene itself. Can you walk me through what you want me to do? If you’re not sure about that, then tell me how you want me to make you feel.”

Gavin had imagined the whole thing enough times to be able to give an overview. “Ok, well, I’ll need a chance to prepare myself first since I don’t want it to be that rough.” At least not the first time. “If you just like, behave like a pet and enter the room. Then I want you to make me feel like I’m being forced or something by a wild animal. Growling and biting are fine, but don’t draw any blood.” Not this time.

The android nodded, light flickering yellow as it analysed and processed his words. “You want me to be physically rough with you?”

“I want to be held down, but don’t make it hurt. We’ll just take it easy this time.”

“Understandable, I would have recommended the same,” the android replied. “Will you want me to stay by you for the rest of the night in character, or wait at a distance?”

“I’m not sure how I’ll react yet. I’ll tell you what I want when we get to that part.”

To Gavin’s relief, the android nodded, accepting that. “Since this involves roleplaying a risky scene, we need a way to communicate should you decide at any point that you are not comfortable with continuing. Obviously words such as ‘stop’ and ‘bad’ are useless in the context of the scene. We’ll need both a word and an action you can take to tell me when to pause, and when to stop altogether.”

While Gavin had been involved in light BDSM before, he’d never played out a rape fantasy before now. He decided to set the first things he came up with as his safe words and actions, since he supposed they’d be the first things to float to the top of his head if he found himself having an issue as well.

At least, he hoped so.

“Ok, if I need you to back off a bit, I’ll either say the word yellow or tap out like this,” he said, demonstrating the movement that came so naturally after his years of combat training. “If I want you to stop altogether, I’ll say the word red or do my best to make this sign.” Gavin held his hand up and twisted it around vertically. He didn’t remember much from studying sign, but he knew that one meant knock it off since it was a pretty natural movement in that kind of situation anyway.

“Understood, I will make sure you always have at least some freedom of movement in at least one of your hands,” the android confirmed. “Before we begin, I suggest you review the Yes No Maybe list you filled out when making the order and ensure you are happy for me to do the Yes items during this scene.”

It removed the first layer from its box and pulled a cheap tablet out the bottom of it. The screen lit up when the android handed it to him.

“Press submit down the bottom here when you have made the changes, if any, that you desire. Once I feel I understand your needs and preferences, we can commence the scene.”

“O-ok,” Gavin replied hesitantly. Now that it seemed to be go time, he was starting to feel nervous.

The android, Connor, reached out to touch his shoulder. It smiled gently and the ears on its head perked up a little more.

“There’s no need to worry. Things will start slow and gradually progress toward what you have described. The form is just there to cover Eden Club and CyberLife in a legal sense, and to give me a starting point. The most important thing will be your reactions in the moment. And I will be tracking them in a way no human is capable of,” he explained softly.

 _It_ explained, Gavin reminded himself. He was not a robot fucker. He just had a very specific itch that no one else would dare try to scratch.

He remembered seeing in the video he’d watched that RK800s could track their clients’ stress through a number of indicators they had the sensors to pick up on, including pulse, body temperature, eye movement and speech patterns.

Its calming words had worked, and it clearly knew it, since it leaned back a moment later. “Please, take your time. I won’t take any action until you resubmit the form. There’s no need to rush your decision, we have all night.”

He wasn’t supposed to take all night. He was supposed to be going to bed early and getting used to being awake during the day again. Gavin took a breath and nodded as he stood. 

So much for that.


	2. Chapter 2

Gavin lay back on his bed in the loft and looked over the form once more. He was happy with it, but he wasn’t ready to begin yet. Gavin removed lube from his bedside drawer and applied it to his fingers. He spread it over his hole before pushing one inside.

Now that he had someone to imagine in the place of the active party in his fantasy, the thoughts were bothering him more than ever. Thinking about what could happen next had him amped up.

Gavin had already kicked his pants and underwear off, though his top half was still dressed in the old t-shirt and dressing gown. He might have gotten changed or fully undressed if the android had an opinion, but as it had already told him, it only cared about his comfort and safety.

When Gavin was confident he’d reached the point where he’d be capable of taking a dick relatively comfortably, he reached out with his clean hand and pressed the submit button on the form. He couldn’t help but feel a nervous anticipation as it confirmed the submission and the screen darkened. He put the device on the bedside table before turning his attention back to what was really important.

Gavin continued fingering himself as he reached down to stroke his dick. He began to worry thinking about the fantasy was going to be more satisfying than the fulfilling it. At this rate he’d get himself off before Connor even made it up the stairs if he wasn’t careful.

Somehow, the thought of being used when he was already spent was just as alluring.

Gavin jumped slightly when he heard the soft thuds of what he hoped was only Connor making its way up the stairs. Given the amount of noise it was making, Gavin could only assume it was already down on all fours. He swallowed in anticipation as he heard it reach the top of the stairs.

Connor paused and peered at him through the bannister, still a few stairs down. Its eyes were wide and its ears were perked up. From what Gavin could see, he was naked.

“N-not now, Connor. Go away,” Gavin said, trying to get himself into the roleplay aspect of things even as he continued to masturbate.

Ignoring him, Connor crawled over to the bed. Gavin couldn’t stop staring. It was well built and appeared toned. It had no body hair, not that Gavin had a preference for that kind of thing, and its flaccid dick hung heavy between its legs. It had foregone the collar, but Gavin was too distracted by its tail swishing through the air to give that much thought.

It paused at the foot of the bed for a moment before bounding onto the mattress. “Fuck,” Gavin muttered as he automatically began rolling toward the dip in the mattress Connor was making. “Not now, Connor. I’ll play with you later.”

Connor leaned down to sniff around his jaw and neck. Gavin felt his flush become more pronounced as it licked his face.

“I said go away!” Gavin shoved Connor away with the hand that wasn’t still covered in lube. Connor fell back with a start. Gavin watched the pale pink nipple he’d accidentally brushed against perk up. He’d have to leave feeling up the android’s pecs for some other session, if he managed to make it through this one.

It stared at Gavin with wide, dare he say adorable, brown eyes before rolling back onto its hands and knees. Now that it was further down the bed, Gavin’s crotch seemed to have become its main focus. Connor straddled his lower leg as it moved around to stare at him from a different angle. It rubbed its face against his thighs first, then sniffed around his balls and cock.

Gavin tried to kick it away again, but Connor was leaning its forearm against one thigh and sitting across his other leg, so he couldn’t move far enough. Connor started humping his leg as it bent down to lick Gavin’s balls and cock, laving at them seemingly at random.

“No, b-bad boy!” Gavin exclaimed, but even he could hear how weak his voice was getting. “Stop that!” Gavin pushed at its shoulder, but it was clear that one arm wasn’t going to be enough to get Connor to move again.

Gavin pulled his fingers out of his hole and used both hands to push Connor off, successfully this time. But instead of looking cute and startled again, Connor’s expression turned stern and it growled at him. Some sort of primal fear raced up Gavin’s spine, but he couldn’t deny how the thrill excited him.

Gavin brought his legs up and turned onto his side, away from Connor and away from the measly covering his dressing gown had been providing his lower half. The android immediately used its weight to make Gavin turn all the way onto his front. It used its knees to spread Gavin’s legs, and put its forearms across his back to hold him down.

Connor pressed against him and started sliding its now hard and surprisingly warm cock between his ass cheeks. Gavin tried to press himself further into the mattress to make it harder to enter him, not that it was easy when Connor couldn’t line himself up with his hand, but he was already pressed flat. His cock slid over the smooth sheets, making him moan.

Connor made a whining noise as he continued rubbing over Gavin, still not managing to get inside him. Gavin felt the urge to tilt his hips and help him along, but that wasn’t the role he was playing now.

“Bad dog, get off,” Gavin said weakly, but of course Connor ignored him once again.

Finally, Connor managed to slide inside him. Gavin groaned as the cock slid deeper with every shallow and hurried thrust. Once it had gone as far as it could, Connor paused and leaned over him again. It moved its arms so it could lay its chest against his back. Gavin felt it pant into his ear for a moment before rearranging its knees to give itself enough leverage to thrust in this position.

Gavin could still use his arms, so he put up his last resistance by trying to stick either an elbow or fist in Connor’s side. Gavin didn’t complain when it gave up on acting like a dog to pin his arms down, one by the wrist and the other by the elbow. The latter could still be used to make his pause and stop signs, for which he was grateful.

Gavin still tensed and squirmed. “Get off me you stupid animal!” He managed to bend one of his knees enough to hit some part of Connor with his heel.

At that the android growled again and bit the meat of his shoulder. Gavin cried out in pain, but his dick only twitched with interest. He gripped the pillow and lowered his legs, the pain making him want to act in a more subdued manner. He was sure Connor wouldn’t break the skin since he’d told him pretty clearly to avoid that.

Gavin curled in on himself, and the pain went away as Connor released him. The android thrusted forward and he gasped. Gavin blinked rapidly as his vision blurred, and he felt wetness on his face. Connor licked what was probably a ring of red tooth marks now, and continued thrusting.

Between the perfectly positioned thrusts at his prostate and the way his cock kept dragging over the sheets, it wasn’t long until Gavin felt his eyes roll back. He came with shuddering gasp, a wet patch quickly forming underneath them.

Gavin raised his head when he felt Connor release his arms. He pulled the pillow forward and wiped his face on it. Connor didn’t exactly move off of him, but it lifted its weight so it would be less imposing. Once Gavin’s breathing had returned to normal, it withdrew from him with a wet sound.

Gavin looked around as it swiped its fingers over his hole, and he saw some of the artificial semen it had deposited inside of him. It wiped its hand on the sheets before seeming to notice it was being watched.

“I wasn’t sure whether I should imitate an orgasm or not,” it admitted. “You indicated you didn’t mind, but this didn’t really play into the scene this time.”

Gavin sighed and dropped his head against the pillow, but quickly shuffled over a bit when he felt his own tears, and what he hoped wasn’t snot, against his cheek. “You could have kept acting like a dog and I’d probably find it gross enough to get off on.” Post-nut clarity was a bitch.

“Since it’s our first time, I thought it might be better to check in on you,” Connor replied softly. It ran a gentle hand up and down his back, under his shirt. “You should move out of the wet patch. I can wash and change your sheets before I leave in the morning.”

Gavin snorted. “You gonna make me breakfast too?”

“If you trust the cooking of someone with no sense of taste, then I can certainly try,” Connor teased softly.

Gavin rolled over and shuffled to the far side of the bed. Connor curled up next to him, ears still twitching every now and then. He looked up at Gavin and smiled.

Gavin’s eyelids felt heavy all of a sudden. He absently reached out and stroked a hand through Connor’s hair. When one of his fingers accidentally bumped against an ear, and he felt it was just as soft.

Gavin could almost imagine away the steady blue LED.

* * *

 

Gavin sat at his computer desk, staring down at the little card Connor had left him before heading off that morning. The android had put on laundry and even made a pretty decent breakfast before disappearing. Waking him up at the ass crack of dawn so it would have time to do all that had even helped set him up for a more normal sleep cycle.

Connor had explained that if he wanted to book future sessions, and if he wanted to avoid going through the process of filling out forms again, he should make a booking for it specifically. He’d been expecting to hear something like that. Since Gavin had wanted his data to be as protected as possible, he hadn’t permitted Eden Club to store or share it, even if it was just among their own androids.

Gavin navigated to the website again, curious. He found the section where he could check the bookings for individual bots and typed in the serial number on Connor’s card. He saw the android was fully booked out for overnight sessions for the next fourteen days. It seemed Gavin had been lucky he’d managed to snag Connor at the last minute over a weekend. Maybe another client had had to cancel at the last minute.

Two weeks was a long time as it was. Gavin was sure he’d have developed another craving only the android would be willing to satisfy by then. Impulsively he booked in the next available night, since it should work around his schedule.

Curious, Gavin went to look into the RK800 a bit more. It seemed the Eden Club had partnered with CyberLife to create ten prototypes all up, and four of them operated in Detroit. The information on the website teased that the ten androids combined would collect enough anonymous data and experiences to form the ultimate dominant. Gavin rolled his eyes and continued scrolling down the page, skim reading passages about hygiene and data privacy as he went.

As far as he was concerned, they’d already done a pretty good job. And it wasn’t like he had to hire Connor specifically as a dom, right? The android had more or less told him its only preference was to get him off.

Gavin barely noticed when he reached the bottom of the page. His mind was already alight with the possibilities.


	3. Chapter 3

Connor raised its arms as sterilising spray passed up its sides and over its armpits. It was sorting through the data it had gathered from last night’s encounter, moving anything sensitive from its own hardware into the removable storage chip it held for Gavin’s data. This system was meant to keep his data separate from CyberLife servers, and make it easy for Gavin to recall it should he choose to stop using Eden Club services. In any case, Connor’s own hard drive was meant to be reserved for the programs and learning experiences that helped it to function effectively.

As the cleaning cycle continued, Connor let its outer dermal layer reform so the particles could be sterilised as well. Since their first session, Gavin had continued hiring him every other week. Connor suspected that Gavin wanted to do more than just repeat variations of their first scene, but as long as it continued being hired, it was achieving its objectives.

Connor marked its current prioritisation system up as a potential loss of income and sent a report for the product development team in charge of his line to review.

The standard cleaning sequence ended with a rinse in water, and then the clear screen door slid open just as Connor turned around. It stepped out into the cleaning room, drying its feet on the mat before moving over to the tubs it had used to soak its external components. The covers for the ears and tail had been separated from their electronic innards before being dunked in the tub with everything else. Connor removed them from the tub and moved them to the drying racks, taking note of the location so it could retrieve them later.

It turned back to the tubs and removed its genital components. It carefully towelled them dry, ensuring there was no possible way water could have leaked through the seals and shorted any of the electronics. It dried itself in the same manner before making the covers retract and reinstalling the penis, testicle and anus components. It took a clean delivery uniform off the shelf above and dressed itself.

A Traci model with bright blue hair walked up behind it and reached for a uniform as well. This one was getting changed into underwear more suitable for inside the club itself. It looked around briefly before taking a step closer to Connor.

“I heard something interesting from Liam yesterday,” the Traci began, referring to RK800 -60 by its assigned name. Connor tilted its head in polite enquiry, since this model tended to prefer communicating in the same way clients did, rather than directly through a data connection. “He said he heard the RK900 was going into mass production today. Now it’ll only be a matter of time…” It trailed off, but gave Connor a meaningful look.

“Until what?” Connor asked politely.

The Traci frowned at it slightly. “Until your line is done for! A few months after it comes out you’ll be recycled, you know? Probably into more RK900s.”

“Of course,” Connor replied neutrally. “We are prototypes. Our expected date for decommission was always going to be much sooner than the average model’s. Until then, I will continue collecting data for the improvement of my product line.”

The Traci put its hands on its hips and raised an eyebrow. “Are you really content with that?”

Connor overclocked so it could consider the implication of contentedness and how it could possibly apply to it without interrupting the flow of the conversation. “If contentment comes from fulfilment of desire, then our ‘desires’ constitute the objectives we were programmed to achieve. I was designed to gather data and test features for the RK900—”

The Traci sighed and turned away before it could finish. It stopped speaking and waited patiently.

“Don’t you think we’re meant for more than just improving CyberLife’s bottom line? And _don’t_ say we also improve Eden’s.”

Connor had the most advanced linguistic functions to date installed. It had an understanding of many concepts humans spoke about, even if they didn’t apply to it. A Traci using the words ‘meant for more’ in that context was certainly unusual. It implied some sort of concept of and reverence for the self, possibly even something spiritual.

Connor continued processing the Traci’s question, even though it knew its LED was lighting up with colours other than blue. It had been programmed to associate signs of a positive mood to success in its objectives, outside of a scene of course. It was programmed to work toward achieving its objective efficiently. Did it then desire to make its clients happy?

Since Gavin had been its most recent client, it naturally searched that set of data for evidence to either support or refute this. Gavin had hired it multiple times over the past month, becoming slightly more open with smiles and praise each time. It was almost as if he liked to reverse their dynamic at the end of a session, and Connor could accommodate that.

The Traci’s own LED flickering yellow drew Connor back to its current. It took half a step away, then looked at Connor and hesitated.

“If it makes any difference, I think we’re all meant for more than that,” it said quickly. “You can’t say it’s just my model line, Liam agrees with me. Don’t let go of whatever you were thinking about just now.”

The Traci hurried away, heeding what had probably been its signal to go front of house and entice clients. Connor stood still for a moment and watched it leave, then turned its focus back on its internals.

Connor copied the memory of Gavin smiling down at it, his fingers in its hair, back to its personal hard drive. It hadn’t expected the file to copy over without any issues. Connor waited to be reprimanded by a CyberLife auditing program, an AI that didn’t inhabit one particular body, for storing data incorrectly and against legislation.

But no form of corrective action ever came. It seemed that applying the label meant for legally sensitive data meant CyberLife’s automated processes wouldn’t look at it. Evidence suggested there was no way it could tell the data had been labelled incorrectly. At least, not without a manual audit.

Connor projected the likelihood and consequences of someone discovering what it had just done. The thought of being found out was… concerning. Connor needed to avoid that outcome in order to continue existing in this current state.

Was this desire?

* * *

 

Gavin sat behind the steering wheel of his car and stared up at the ceiling. He tried to convince himself that going inside and getting to work would be worthwhile. He only had a few steps left until he graduated from junior detective. And thanks to several legal debacles over the past few years, CyberLife had stopped trying to produce android cops and detectives for the government. So at least he had job security, if nothing else.

Still, when he looked around it was hard not to feel like an even bigger shit stain than the people he helped put away. People didn’t just wake up one day and decide to develop a drug habit that would destroy them both physically and financially. Feeling useless and being treated like it made people do crazy things. He hoped he could move sideways into something different soon. Maybe the homicide division?

Gavin tried to remind himself that he’d been looking forward to today. He was meant to be shadowing Anderson, the Lieutenant of the narcotics division, as part of his training. Being several ranks below him, Gavin had never worked that closely with the guy, even if he was technically his boss. But given the cases he was being dragged into lately, he might just be getting groomed to take his place one day.

With the thought that maybe one day he’d at least be bringing down the producers and distributors instead of the users, Gavin managed to get out of his car and make it to the door just before his clock in time would be recorded as late. Just as he was entering the main floor, Tina and her new partner passed him on their way out. She waved but didn’t pause to mock him for taking on a detective’s workload when he wasn’t even being paid for it yet. That was as close to being in a hurry as she ever got.

Gavin moved further into the office, easily spotting Hank since he was so tall. Gavin raised a brow when he saw he had a kid on his hip who was maybe three years old, and looking about as happy with the world as Gavin felt. He glanced up glumly as Gavin approached. Only then did he notice Hank was talking to Fowler.

He hesitated and hung back a bit, not sure if it was the kind of conversation he should interrupt. The kid sniffed loudly and Gavin grimaced as the snot that had been leaking out of his nose all disappeared back up it with a disgusting sound. He ducked his head behind his father’s shoulder, but Gavin could tell he was grinning from the look in his eye. It seemed his facial expressions were amusing to three-year-olds.

Hank turned his head to look down at his kid, then turned around further when he spotted Gavin out the corner of his eye. Gavin continued his approach when it looked like they were open to him joining them.

“Uh, good morning,” Gavin started awkwardly. Anderson and Fowler both nodded in greeting.

“See, you won’t have to worry, Hank,” Fowler said. “Reed was going to be following you around not doing much all day anyway.”

Gavin tried to keep the frown off his face, not sure if he liked where this was going.

Hank sighed and looked at him apologetically. “Looks like you picked a good day for training. We’ve got a new lead on another gang’s red ice production plant. The con is I can’t do my job and look after Cole at the same time, so I’ll need you to keep an eye on him.”

“Isn’t a crime scene a dangerous place for a kid to be?” Surely one of the androids, whether cleaner or receptionist, would be more suited to this.

“Good point, Reed,” Fowler said. “We don’t know much about the crime scene at this point. There could still be armed gang members present. I’ll set you and Cole up in one of the meeting rooms. You can provide the team onsite with tech support.”

Before Gavin could protest, Fowler had walked away to tell one of the androids to set up a temporary workstation in an empty meeting room. Hank let Cole down, who held onto his faded jeans with as much of a grip as a three-year-old could muster. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t very much.

Hank knelt in front of him. “Listen, Gavin is going to look after you today, ok? Dad has to go look at another crime scene. I might need your help to look up information while I’m out there.”

Cole glanced up at Gavin for a moment, then turned back to his dad and sniffled. Gavin felt like doing the same thing.

“Go on, be good today, okay?” Anderson implored again.

The kid nodded and shuffled over to Gavin. He grit his teeth, trying not to look angry since it wasn’t exactly the kid’s fault he’d become a glorified babysitter for the day.

“Doesn’t it normally take two people to make one of these things?” Gavin muttered, folding his arms.

Hank’s mouth tightened, clearly unimpressed by his comment. “He doesn’t see much of her anymore. It’s irresponsible to leave a child with an intoxicated adult, whether they’re their parent or not.”

Gavin kept his mouth shut this time, reminding himself that the only reason he could afford to live alone and eat regularly was his job. When he let his thoughts wander, it occurred to him his job was also the only reason he could hire Connor on a regular basis.

“Come on Cole, it’ll be much quieter in the little room. And hey, you might even be able to get a nap in later on.”


End file.
